Network devices often employ various flow control mechanisms, for example to reduce or eliminate loss of data units, such as packets, due to congestion at the network devices. Some networking applications require processing and forwarding a high number of data units, such as packets, communication frames, etc. The amount of packet traffic that a network device can handle is limited, in part, by the number of front panel ports, i.e., physical ports via which the network device is connected to other devices or networks. In some such networking application, cascading of network devices is used to increase a number of front ports available to a centralized network device. In such networking applications, it is important to efficiently control flow of packets between the centralized network device and the cascaded network devices.